Eric Hutson, vice president of Casahl of San Ramon, Calif., said FileMaker Pro has a 'loyal following for which it is the primary database.'

The collaboration server synchronizes FileMaker Pro with Oracle Corp., IBM DB/2, Microsoft Exchange Server and Lotus Notes databases as well as with ERP software such as SAP R/3 from SAP America Inc. of Newtown Square, Pa.

EcKnowledge has three components: Composer, Knowledge Server and Knowledge Server Manager. They run under Microsoft Windows 9x or Windows NT for design of data replication, transformation and monitoring processes.

Government resellers price ecKnowledge at $3,000 for the basic server engine, $3,000 for Notes and Exchange connectivity, $5,000 for Oracle connectivity, $7,000 for an Open Database Connectivity pack and $15,000 for SAP connectivity.